Italy: A Tale Of Two Airlines - Time To Re-Think The Compensation Regulations?

The dual crises experienced by Ryanair and Monarch airlines,
largely unexpected by the general public, have highlighted glaring
flaws in the aviation compensation system. Whilst at first glance
the Monarch situation was known to the executives and management
for a while as they struggled to seek a solution that would keep
the airline flying. The sudden and unexpected walkout of Ryanair
pilots was not; initially it was passed off by the Ryanair
hierarchy with one explanation and then another, before settling on
a "mix up with the holiday scheduling" as their final
explanation.

What has been brought sharply into focus is the aviation
industry's compensation system. On one hand Ryanair resisted
complying with the law until publicly shamed by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) which followed on the back of a wave of angry
complaints from the Ryanair passengers.

Ryanair is believed to have initially barred customers from
claiming the compensation they were entitled to, by issuing refunds
without informing passengers they could insist on requesting
flights on other airlines. There are many passengers who accepted
refunds who were unaware that Ryanair had deprived them of their
legal entitlement to flights on alternative airlines. Some
passengers are considering a legal remedy as they have been
informed that as they since they have accepted the initial offer,
they are not entitled to the new improved offer despite the fact
that it would appear that Ryanair misled them with regard to their
rights to full compensation, using a variety of techniques to
obstruct their passengers.

On the other hand Monarch's more orderly, although no less
surprising, descent seemed at first to be on the right lines.
However, Monarch ceased to offer Air Travel Organiser's Licence
(Atol) protection for its flights in December 2016 in an attempt to
cut costs. The upshot is that only those who booked package
holidays are covered and the CAA have warned that even they may
have to wait until Christmas to get their money back as they will
have to fill in lengthy forms. This has resulted in considerable
numbers of Monarch passengers finding that they face navigating
through claims from insurance, credit card protection and relying
on the Consumer Credit Act.

For many passengers the enjoyment of their holiday has been
overshadowed by the struggle to get home and get compensation and
they feel that they have been treated very shabbily by both
airlines. It is highly likely that the weight of a volume legal
action, rather than an individual trying to steer through the legal
and regulatory chaos, will have the effect of focusing attention on
the passengers' plight and force a root and branch change in
how future passengers' claims are dealt with and give the CAA
more teeth in swiftly enforcing compliance with the law.

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